I see that the AKG 240s MKII can be had for $129 on amazon. I think I'll give them a try. Can anyone recommend a good budget headphone amp to go with these? Preferable one with a usb input so that I can connect directly to my PC and bypass the soundcard? I know HeadRoom makes one. Are there any other some of you may be using?

Sounds like you want a DAC. I have an iBasso D10 and love it. Check the ibasso website, the D2 and D4 are well received. I like my D10 because I can use it on my Macbook via USB and optical out, and yes, optical sounds much better w/ the right recordings. It's dead silent, with no music turn it up loud and you hear nothing, no hiss or noise.

Also try used. I bought a Leckerton UHA3 from a local kid via the head-fi.org classifieds. Cost me $125 IIRC. That was a great, small starter amp/DAC.

So I got the AKG240 MKII last night. I listened to them for a few hours on my PC. I had them hooked up basically through my sound blaster going through a Monsoon setup which has a headphone jack connection. I also listened to them on my Ipod.

They were much more comfortable than my old sennheiser hd 212. I have to say though that my hearing must not be too refined. I could not really tell a huge difference between the two headphones. Either my ears are the bottleneck here or my setup considering I am not using an amp. The source was a mix of 320bit mp3 and cd listening.

So It's been a week now. I think my ears got used to the heaphones. I can now tell a significant difference between the headphones and no It isn't because i looked at the graphs. At least I hope not. =)

I love the mids and highs on these headphones. The bass seems a bit lacking, but I understand that I just feel that way becauase I've been used to over exagerated bass. Next purchase will be a dac/amp to drive these.

Two very good choices in this price range. Sony is very inconsistent with respect to the quality and performance of their products but the Sony 7506 is one of the exceptions. The 7506 has been used by industry professionals for decades in the studio. Suprisingly good build quality and has the neutrality you would be looking for. The 7506 are known to be great for mixing/studio use but not the best for causual listening due to the fact they can be harsh/fatiguing at times with mediocre recorded music.

The Shure SRH series are the newest closed headphones from Shure. Like the 7506, the Shure 440 have superb build quality and neutrality. The 440 are not as bright with a bit less bass than the 7506.

Both the 7506 and 440 are closed and the comfort levels you experience might vary. It would be safe to assume you would initially feel some "clamping" after extended use with both. I find the most comfortable way to avoid this effect is to rotate the headband slightly forward and adjust the headband larger until the clamping goes away. Otherwise they are both fairly comfortable headphones once your body breaks into the "feel" of them. I find all headphones initially take some getting use to in regards to comfort and they get better over time.